Rockstar Games Appear To Hint At New GTA 3 Content
It's hard to believe it's been 20 years since Claude silently barged his way into our lives and became the stoic protagonist of Grand Theft Auto III. Before the GTA franchise really found its feet with the likes of San Andreas and GTA IV, GTA III was a stepping stone in its own right and was the first entry in the 3D universe. As one of the standout titles of the PlayStation 2 and original Xbox, it's rightly earned its place in the ongoing series.
Despite GTA III's now retro status, Rockstar Games has teased that it could be time to revisit the seedy underbelly of Liberty City and possibly give Claude a voice with the potential of new content. While this sadly isn't the much-anticipated update on what's going on with the mythical GTA 6, Rockstar has promised some "fun surprises" to celebrate GTA III's milestone.
Is GTA 3 getting new content?
In a blog post giving an update on what's going in GTA Online and Red Dead Online, Rockstar revealed what's going on with the next-gen remaster of the beloved GTA V AND slipped in the surprise announcement that there's more on the way from GTA III. Toward the end of the post, the "And More" section reads, "In honor of the upcoming 20th anniversary of the genre defining Grand Theft Auto III, we'll have even more fun surprises to share - including some specifically for GTA Online players". It doesn't take a genius to figure out that Claude is probably on the way to GTA Online, but what else could that mean?
Much like the Cayo Perico Heist adding a tonne of new content to GTA Online, a Claude-centric DLC could revisit the character. It could be a little ambitious to imagine an update on the scale of Cayo Perico, but with so much emphasis on 2021 being the 20th anniversary of GTA III, we're hoping it's more than just a Claude skin being added to the game. Even if it's not a whole overhaul of Online, it would be great to see a little narrative arc that picks up his story after the events of his game. Interestingly, Rockstar has addressed Claude's whereabouts before and told fans, "He certainly isnāt dead. What else became of him, we donāt know".
When did GTA III last get new content?
2001's GTA III rounded off Claude's story neatly with him having saved the day and bested the Columbian Cartel. Of course, there was a cliffhanger ending where it's implied Claude shot Maria Latore simply because she was annoying him. Unlike GTA IV, there wasn't any post-release content for GTA III, meaning it came to something of an abrupt end. That being said, the game has still kept a loyal following thanks to its many ports to mobile, PlayStation 4, and even a reverse-engineered fan project that could've brought the game to Nintendo Switch - before Take-Two issued a DMCA takedown.
Remembering that GTA III's 10th anniversary included an enhanced rerelease for mobile - and we're told not all the surprises will be related to GTA Online - it's entirely possible Rockstar has been tinkering away on a port to next-gen systems. Then again, leakers are normally on it with that kind of news, and we've not heard a peep about GTA III for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. Most likely, we're looking at some sort of GTA III-inspired mission being added to the next-gen GTA V. For the time being, we're left guessing exactly what these "fun surprises" are.
Images via Rockstar Games
